Conveyer chute for percentage feeding machines



S. SNYDER July 2, 1929 CONVEYER GHUTE FOR PERCENTAGE FEEDING MACHINESOriginal Filed April 1926 Patented July 2, 1929.

UNITED STATES 1 1,719,788 PATENT OFFICE.

SIMON SNYDER, OF MUNCY, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIG-N OR T0 SPROUT, WALDRON ,8!).00., OF MUNCY, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CONVEYER CHUTE FOR PERCENTAGE FEEDING MACHINES.

Qrig'inal application filed April 7, 1926, Serial No. 100,427. Dividedand this application filed December 21, 1926. Serial No. 156,181.

This invention in its broader aspects relates to conveyer chutes, andmore particularly to a chute especially adapted for use in connectionwith feeding and mixing machines of the kind used in flour mills forfeeding and mixing granular material or dill'erent kinds of grain,either whole or granulated, and various kinds of stock feed, such asoats, middlings, or ground alfalfa; such machines being adapted to beconnected in gangs for feeding and mixing different kinds of grain orgranulated material in measured or predetermined quantities; a group ofsuch ma chines being connected with a mixing device common to the entiregroup, whereby different kinds of materials delivered by differentmachines in the group may be mixed, in either the same or differentproportions, as desired, all in a continuous operation; this applicationbeing a division of my pending application Serial No. 100,427, filedApril 7, 1926.

The primary object of my present invention is to provide simple andeliicient means connected with the discharge port of each machine in agroup for conducting the material therefrom either into a receptacle orconveyer trough common to the entire group or into a receptacle locatedat one side of the individual machine, for the purpose of ascertainingwhether such machine is feeding in the desired proportion.

Other objects will more fully appear from the following description. f

The invention will first be l'iereinafter more particularly described,with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as apart of this specification, and then pointed out in the claims at theend of the description.

In said drawings, Fig. 1 is 1: front elevation of a plurality of feedingmachines having my invention applied thereto, such machines beingarranged in a group of any desired number each operably connected with asuitable mining device,such as a spiral. conveyer, for mixing anddischarging the material fed by the assembled machines into a suitablereceiver;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of one of a group offeeding machines having my invention applied thereto; and

Fig. 3 is a detail view in side elevation of a deflecting chute wherebythe material discharged from any one of the machines in a group may becaused to pass outwardly into a separate receptacle for a purpose hereinafter stated.

Referring to said drawings, in which the same reference ch uracters areused to denote corresponding parts in different views; the feedingmachine shown in Fig. 2 is designed and adapted to be used as one of agroup of machines for delivering grain or granular material and variousother food products in predetermined proportions for admixture in asuitable mixing device, such as shown, for example in Fig. 1, wherein Ihave shown the first two of a group of feeding machines operablyconnected for discharging their contents simultaneously into a suitableconveyor trough common to the entire group of machines and containing arotary conveyer or other suitable device for commingling and conveyingthe mixture to a point at which the desired commingling has beeneffected and then discharging the mixture into a suitable receptacletherefor.

In the illustrated machine I have shown in Fig. 2 a feed wheel A fixedon the lower end of a vertical shaft B, which has its hearings in onecompartment of a combinedfeed hopper and gear casing O Within whichthcdriving mechanism is housed; said hopper and gear casing being separatedby a transverse partition so that the granulated ma terial. in the feedhopper fills the pockets of the feed wheel which carries the materialinto the gear casing and discharges the same into conveyer trough orinto a separate receptacle,- as desired, according to the position ofthe deflecting chute. However, my present invention is not limited inits application to any particular type of feeding machine or acon'ibined feed hopper and casing of the form shown, as it may beapplied to various kinds of machines, and further description of thefeeding machine appears to be unnecessary.

The letter D denotes the top plate of a frame structure on which thecylindrical lower end of the combined feed hopper and gear casing isseatethso that said plate forms the hopper bottom, and between said topplate and the feed wheel is placed a segmental or circular oscillatoryplate F having formed therein, adjacent the inner wall of the gearcasing in front of the feed wheel shaft, an oblong arcuate slot oropening adapted to register with a similar opening in the hopperbottom'through which the grain or granular material filling the pocketsof the feed wheel is discharged into a swinging chute F by .which thematerial is conducted into a suitable mixing'device G; the swingingchute being interposed between the discharge port in the hopper bottomand a spout H which discharges intothe trough of said mixing device, sothat normally the material is conducted inwardly into the mixing devicethrough said spout, but when it is desired to measure or weigh the grain,to ascertain whether or not a particular machine or different machinesin a group is or are discharging in the desired proportions, theposition of the chute may be changed to adapt it to conduct the materialoutwardly into a separate receptacleyas indicated indotted lines inFig.- 2.

The swinging chute, as shown, consists of opposed metal plates f eachhaving marginal flanges 7 turned toward the other plate and 7 eachsecured at its upperend to a rod I revolubly seeuredon the supportingframe; one of said rods having secured thereto a weighted leverK adaptedto hold the rod stationary in either of twoinclined positions with the.chute members inclined either inwardly or outwardly as desired. Pendantarms '21 on saidrods Iliave their free ends pivoted to a link L, wherebythe two members of the chute may be thrown simultaneously into either anoutwardly inclined or an inwardly inclined position, when sa-idlever Kis thrown forward or back, and retained thereby in the desn'ed positionfor discharging the materlal delivered by the feed wheel in an inward oran outward direction, for the purpose stated.

The pendant arm on the innermost rod I to -which one end of the link Lis pivoted has pivoted thereto a second link L the other end of which ispivoted to an upstanding arm on on arod M which is revolubly supportedin alined boxes or bearings therefor secured on the'supporting frames ofthe individual machines in the group so that when the weighted "lever Kis actuated to throw the chute members into an outwardly inclinedposition, or vice versa, the chute members of each machine in the groupwill be simultaneously thrown outwardly or inwardly, according to thedirection in which the lever is moved.

.The' mixing device in the form shown, comprises. a trough-likereceptacle within which is'placed a spiral conveyer N on the shaft ofwhich isa pulley O for imparting rotary movement thereto by connectionin a well known manner with any suitable source of power. Said conveyerN may be of any suitable: construction, and may be operated by belt andpulley connection or otherwise with a driving shaft. The materialsentering said conveyer trough are thoroughly commingled therein, andconveyed to a suitable receptacle therefor located at the delivery endof the conveyer, or any other crmvenient point underneath or below asuitable discharge spout (not shown).

The machine may be driven from any suitable source of power by belt orother connection with a driving wheel or loose pulley on a main drivingshaft. The individual feeders may be driven by means of belt and pulleyconnection with an overhead shaft, but in a group of machines thefeed-wheel driving shaft of each machine is or may be driven from a maindriving shaft P by means of sprocket wheels and chains connecting saidmain driving shaft with each. machine in the group, as shown in Fig. 1of the drawings. To this end each machine has seruled thereto at oneside thereof suitable bearings for said main driving shaft; suchbearings comprising a bracket ban-ing member Q, secured to the rear sidewall of the hopper section of the casing and having secured thereto adetachable member or cap-plate ll; said bearing member and cap-plateeach having a concave or substantially sen'ii-circnlar recess therein toprovide suitable bearings for the main driving shaft.

The amount of material each machine may deliver to the mixing device ina given period of time may be varied without changing the proportions inwhich the material is being delivered by the individual machines, bymeans of a cone pulley S on the main driving shaft having a belt orsimilar driving connection with a conntershailt so that the drivingconnection may be shifted from a larger to a smaller pulley or viceversa, thereby causing the group of machines to feed more or lessrapidly as desired.

The operation of the machine will be readily understood from theforegoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings. Any desired number of feeders may be connected and operalmlsimultaneously by the same driving shaft. In starting the feedregulating devices of the individual machines are set to deliver acertain quantity of material in the desired proportions; the amountdelivered by each machine being ascertained by a suitable indicat ingdevice (not shown) and such amount may be more or less than or equal tothe amount delivered by any other machine in the group, and theproportions may be varied as desired from time to time by suitable feedregulating devices. The several machines being set in motion, thematerial discharged into the conveyer-trough in the desired proportionswill be thoroughly con'nningled therein and discharged into a suitablereceiver at the end of the conveyer, and when it is desired to measureor weigh the material. to ascertain whether any machine in the group isdischarging in the desired proportion the chute members, which arenormally held in an inwardly inclined position for discharging thematerial into the mixing device, are thrown into an outwardly inclinedposition and sustained in the latter position for the desired period oftime and then restored to normal position tor continuing the feeding andmixing operation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a machine oi? thecharacter described, means for conducting granular material from adischarge port inwardly into a fixed spout or outwardly therefrom into aseparate receptacle; said means consisting of depending substantiallyparallel plates together tormin a chute for the passage oi. granulatedmaterial therebetween, each plate being hinged at the upper end thereofand means for normally holding said plates in an inwardly inclinedposition; the latter means being adapted to shift said plates into anoutwardly inclined position and to hold them relatively stationcry inthe latter position in substantially parallel relation.

2. In a machine of the character described, means ior conductinggranular material from a discharge port inwardly into a fixed spout oroutwardly therefrom into a separate receptacle; said means consisting ofdepending substantially parallel trough-like members together forming achute; each member hav ing marginal flanges turned toward the othermember and each hinged at the upper end thereof, and means for normallyholding the chute members in an inwardly inclined position; the lattermeans being adapted to shift said members into an outwardly inclinedposition and to hold them relatively stationary in the latter positionin substantially parallel relation.

3. In combination with a machine for feeding granular material inpredetermined proportions, a swinging chute adapted to conduct thematerial from said machine into a suitable mixing device or into aseparate receptacle according to the position of the chute; said chuteconsisting oi. pendant trough-like members each having marginal flangesturned toward the other member and each hinged at the upper end thereof,and means for normally holding the chute members in a norn'iallyinclined position together with means for shitting said members into areversely inclined position and holding them relatively stationary inthe latter position in substantially parallel relation 4. In combinationwith a mixing device, a plurality of feeding machines, dischargingthereinto having means for conducting the material therefrom eitherdirectly into said mixing device or outwardly therefrom into a separatereceptacle; said means consisting Oit oppositely flanged plates hinged.at their up per ends on opposite sides of the discharge port andextending downwardly thereiiron'i in substantially parallel inclinedplanes so as to form a partially enclosed chute serving to conduct thematerial therebetween into said mixing device, and means for moving saidplates into a revm'sely inclined position and holding them in the latterposition for con ducting the material into said receptacle.

5. In combination with a mixing device, a plurality of feeding machines,discharging thereinto having means for conducting the material.thereiron'i either directly into said mixing device or outwardlytherefrom into a separate receptacle; said means consisting oi twosubstantially parallel members of troughlike form hinged at their upperends on opposite sides of the discharge port and arranged front to Frontto form a chute for conducting the material therebetween, and means fornormally holding said members in position to conduct the material intosaid mixing device and for moving them into a reversely inclinedposition and holding them in. the latter position for conducting thematerial into said receptacle.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

SIMON SNYDER.

